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Friday, December 23, 2011

Christmas Red Velvet Snow Cake

Ohhhh my god. This cake was a freaking nightmare. A messy, messy nightmare. For a few weeks now I've had this image in my head of a pristine white cake that looks like it's made of snow. I kept putting off making it because I couldn't think of the right flavour cake or the right toppings. I saw Mowie's stunning Snow Cake and nearly gave up the idea entirely because I knew I couldn't make anything near as perfect. I don't know why but a few days ago I suddenly decided I had to go ahead and make this cake. I wanted it to look like it was covered in snow on the outside by topping it with coconut, with little Snowman macarons on top and a vibrant red velvet cake with cream cheese icing hiding inside. I thought it would be the perfect dessert to bring along to Christmas lunch.

Things went pretty smoothly at first; I piped the macarons and was halfway through decorating them when I realised that I had forgotten to leave half the macaron shells undecorated for the back of each snowman. I really didn't want to have creepy double sided snowmen with faces on their fronts and backs. I managed to stop myself before I drew the faces on but they still have buttons on their backs. Then came my red velvet drama. I know I should have just gone with my trustly vanilla cake recipe and adapted it with cocoa and red food colouring, but instead I used an internet recipe and it just tasted really strange. Like it was made of playdoh. I have no idea why, it was probably because of something stupid I did. I don't think I'll be able to bring it to Christmas lunch :( So unfortunately I don't have a red velvet recipe to go with this post, but I'm sure most of you will have your own favourite red velvet cake recipe that you can use.

Then came the icing drama. I was totally impatient and didn't let my cakes cool for long enough before I started icing them. You'd think I'd have learnt my lesson on this issue by now. The icing started melting down the sides of the cake and it was a total mess. So that's why the cake isn't very straight on the sides, as A described it: 'The cake has hips'. I tried to fix it by patting the coconut on top of the icing and pushing it back up the sides of the cake, but it just made things worse. After the sprinkles mess I made with my purple ombre sprinkles cake you'd think I'd never decorate the sides of my cake with toppings again. But I did. And coconut went EVERYWHERE. At least coconut doesn't bounce as much as sprinkles do when they hit the ground. But it does stick to you. I was this scary coconut covered monster by the end of it.

Things didn't get much better the next day when I went to take photographs of it. I managed to drop that poor slice of cake twice, knocking off the poor snowman's nose. I had to perform emergency snowman surgery. And then I slipped and nearly fell into the damn cake. I'm not kidding. There was a lot of swearing. I was pretty much ready to give up on the whole thing, but look at how pretty it looks! I just had to share the idea with you guys.

My favourite part is definitely the snowman macarons. I filled them with the same cream cheese icing that I covered the whole cake in, and used orange Starburst chewy lollies to make their little noses. I know they've been done before (I think my favourite version that I've seen are from MiniCuisine), but they were just the perfect topper for this cake, along with the mountains of coconut to make it look like it was covered in snow. I really do love the bright contrast of the super red cake innards against the stark white exterior. It's definitely got a little bit of wow factor for when you cut into the cake. Of course feel free to make the macarons on their own, or you could just make the cake and icing. The cake would look just as cute topped with coconut macaroons or those white ferrero chocolates. And that's it from me for this year's Christmas baking, have an fabulous holidays everyone! Eat, drink and be merry :)

For the macarons:
100g aged egg whites (you can use fresh eggs too, just make sure they are room temperature. I always use fresh these days, and zap it in the microwave on defrost for 10 seconds)
110g almond meal, at room temperature and well sifted
200g icing sugar
50g caster sugarOptional: 1 tsp powdered egg whites (available from The Essential Ingredient), helps to stabilise egg whites but is not necessary
To decorate: black food colouring or edible ink pen, silver cachous and orange Starburst chews

Bake the red velvet cakes and cool completely. Prepare the macarons; Line two baking sheets with baking paper. Place icing sugar in food processor and pulse for a minute to remove any lumps. Stir in almond meal and pulse for about 30 seconds to combine. Place in a large mixing bowl and set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and egg white powder in a medium mixing bowl until the egg white powder dissolves and it reaches soft peaks. With the mixer on high speed, gradually add sugar and beat until it reaches stiff peaks.

Add meringue to your dry mixture and mix, quickly at first to break down the bubbles in the egg white (you really want to beat all the large bubbles out of the mixture, be rough!), then mix carefully as the dry mixture becomes incorporated and it starts to become shiny again. Take care not to overmix, the mixture should flow like lava and a streak of mixture spread over the surface of the rest of the mixture should disappear after about 30 seconds. Place in a piping bag and pipe snowman shapes (I piped small 2cm rounds next to 4cm rounds) on baking sheets. Tap baking sheets carefully and firmly on the benchtop a couple times to remove any large bubbles. If you wish, decorate with silver cachous for the snowman 'buttons'.

Leave to dry for at least half an hour to an hour, so that when you press the surface of one gently it does not break. This will help prevent any cracking and help the feet to form on the macs. Preheat your oven to 140-150°C (285-300°F), depending on your oven. Place on top of an overturned roasting tray or another baking sheet if your sheets are not professional grade, for better heat distribution. Bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of your shells. Carefully test if the base of the shell is ready by gently lifting one and if it's still soft and sticking to the baking paper, then it needs to bake for a few minutes longer. Remove from the oven and cool on the tray for a few minutes, then gently remove from the sheet and place on a wire rack to cool completely. Decorate half the macarons with the black food colouring to draw on the faces and cut a small triangle of orange Starburst chews for the nose.

Prepare the cream cheese icing; place cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high until smooth and fluffy. Add lemon and icing sugar, one cup and a time, and beat until smooth. You may need to adjust the amount of icing sugar to obtain the right consistency, it should be spreadable but not runny. Spread over the top of one cake and then sandwich the other cake on top and crumb coat with more icing. Chill for about 15 mins to set the crumb coat slightly. While it is chilling, sandwich the macarons with some of the cream cheese icing and chill in the fridge in an airtight container. Cover the cake with the remaining cream cheese icing, smoothing with a spatula. Chill in the fridge for about half an hour. Place cake in a wide container/tray and carefully sprinkle coconut all over the top and sides of the cake to decorate. Top with macarons and chill in the fridge overnight. Serve at room temperature.

62 comments:

OMG! I'm dying from the cuteness of the snowman macs. Despite all the mishaps, this cake looks rocking! lol at A's comment and the buttons on the back.. What with it and us bakers going crazy during this time of year. I've been having plenty of brain farts with baking as of late.

LOVE LOVE LOVE! I'm always jealous of how your macarons are unfailingly perfect. Who cares if the cake has hips? Doesn't that just mean that there is more icing to eat? Have a very merry christmas, I can't wait to see what perfect creations you dream up in the new year :)

Omg Steph! I am in LOVE with this cake and the snowman macarons! You are sooooooooooo awesome! Red velvet is my favorite and those macaron snowmen are adorable. I want to put them in my pocket! You've done a fantastic job and you only get better. Merry Christmas to you, and have a happy new year! Xx

This is a really really gorgeous cake! I understand all the problems involving the making of the cake and share your pain for not being able to eat it because of the funny taste :( So bad :( You are amazing anyway!!!

Oh it is Stunning!! You make me laugh with your recounts of baking disasters but you always seem to pull out something special out of your little baking hat!! You have a real talent for creating extraordinary things!! Would love to do a raspberri cupcakes macaron feature on my blog (sweetonparties.blogspot.com) next year and would love you to share your tips and tricks!! I still can't master the french method!! I think l am too impatient!!! Love reading your blog and hope you have a wonderful Christmas and wishing AMAZING things for you in 2012! Take Care Larissa xxx

What a gorgeous cake and those snowmen are so cute. Even after all the drama, you can tell it was made with love and looks absolutely perfect. Have a very merry Christmas Steph and I look forward to catching up with you and the girls in 2012..

Oh I would need a lot of practice to come up with something as pretty and intricate as this cake. I can start early for next year's Christmas lunch, can't I? Never too early to try. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.

cook never is easy! i'm impatient sometimes or maybe every times jajaja and i understand every single word you wrote... since the other screen side I can say that this cake looks amazing, diferent, the only word to describe the colors and obviously the fantastic snowman is: CHRISTMAS! merry Christmas from my kitchen, Cardedeu, Barcelona, Spain... :)

Oh wow, perfection!! Seriously love the cake, the macaroons and especially your story! I had a simple sheet cake to do earlier this fall that just happened to be red velvet, as well. I had more issues with that stinkin' cake than any detailed wedding cake I've ever done! And then when I finally thought I was finished (after it took me waaaayyy too long), I picked it up and walked right into a wall. Seriously, there was cream cheese buttercream on my wall! Ugh. But yours is fantastic and your pictures are breathtaking!

this cake is so cute and pretty! and i'm glad i'm not the only one that has baking drama...but the result looks great. I love your macarons, they are always so perfect--my 2011 resolution was to make them for the first time and i didn't even get to that! happy new year :)

OMG STEPH you are amazing!! Every time you make something awesome I think, where DO you get your ideas?! Then you top it off by making something else even MORE wonderful! i love love love LOVE this creation! I hope the recipients of this cake were very very happy and you totally can't see any of the disasters you have mentioned :)

I was wondering, is it possible to use a nut free flour to make the macarons? My daughter is allergic to tree nuts but I'd love to make these for her (plus I love macarons!) Thanks for posting and I love the cake!

JennyC - There are nut-free recipes around, check out BraveTart's recipe, she uses ground pumpkin seeds http://bravetart.com/recipes/NutFreeMacaronsGF, and I've also seen some recipes that use sunflower seeds. But you will probably have to practice making regular ones a bit before doing the extra decorating/shapes. Good luck!

I must admit that I laughed my way thru your humorous account of making this cake. The results were wonderful, and I think in time that the 'hiccups' that you encountered in the process will add richness to the memory of the experience. (Time + crises = humor) LOVED the end results. Keep on baking!

Hi Steph, I like all the lovely creations you made! Just attempted these little cute snowmen but the results was a bit disastrous. I decorated mine right after piping. Unfortunately all the cachous melted while baking and they made holes and cracked the shells. Would like to know when did you decorate the silver cachous? Help...

That's a pity about the cachous. To avoid the cracking, make sure to place them very gently on the surface of the shell, don't push them in too much. You need to dry the shells out for a bit longer to avoid the cracking, about half an hour extra. As for them melting, you can see mine melted a little but not completely, maybe it depends on the type you use? Otherwise you can decorate them after the shells are already baked, by using royal icing to attach them. Hope that helps!

Thanks very much Steph! You are right, I did push the cachous and the type I used were relatively soft. Will do post-baking decoration in the future. Not sure if it is due to the high humidity here (I'm living in Netherlands), I had to dry the shells for more than an hour. But with the heating on, it should be quite dry indoor.

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